I am a graphic designer, and this is a follow up on a book I'm creating noting the 50 greatest battlers of all-time. By now, I know a good number of you are aware of it.
RegularJoe, (a poster on here) offered to write the bios for each battler, and has done and amazing job. Each spread of the book will be set up so the battler's illustration is on one page, and his bio is on the other. (Much of the work can be found in the subforum here: The 50 Greatest Battle Rappers of All-Time - RapMusic.com

This thread is about another section of the book that Teacozy (another poster on here) agreed to write. It is a "classic battles" section, listing some of the best battles throughout history.

I will be posting them every so often on here, and I encourage feedback, criticism, other info, and whatever else you all can offer. All previous help has been great thus far.

Below is some of the artwork that will be in this section, and one of the writeups Teacozy did (I feel he's doing an equally amazing job as joe has done). This is Serius Jones vs. Murda Mook(There is also the list of the battles that will be in this section. Feel free to comment on the list as well)

For some fans, that line is the cornerstone of their worldview on both battle rap and hip-hop. For others, it's just a good bar, if that.

Battle rap is rap rorschach for peoples' bias and belief systems; where expectations and preferences about rap artists in the mainstream and underground get grafted onto the many names who rap for sport in rec spaces, streets, and concert halls. Who rapped better? Who had better bars? Who was more convincing? The kind of fan-level debates that we graded our artists on lent themselves to scrutinizing these newly viral rap stars but not for any sort of consensus. Consensuses in battle rap really only happen when someone gets bodybagged for three or more rounds, otherwise your average close battle becomes ground zero for analysis both post-collegiate and layman. Of all those debatable battles, 2007's Serius Jones vs Murda Mook is probably the most hotly contested.

At the time Smack got the two together to spar, the two were the poster boys for the entire street battling style. Jones, from New Jersey, had just ended an impressive streak at Fight Klub by beating 106 & Park champ Jin for $10,000 and was renowned for both freestyling and being able to clown his opponents while maintaining a street feel. Mook, of Harlem's Dot Mob crew, had already been battling for about four years and had built up an impressive rep and catalog of battles against Jae Millz, Loaded Lux, Party Arty, and more. In a way, the battle was the face of Fight Klub vs the face of Smack DVD, a prospect that could only stoke anticipation for the battle and the ensuing migraine-inducing arguments on who won.

Both of the vets operated within battle rap's standard framework of dissecting and disrespecting your opponent. Both also began their respective verses like a story, recounting the hypothetical conversation they had with Smack that brought them to the battle in the first place. However, Mook tended to focus more on mixing his style of grandiose Harlem braggadocio – often describing himself in terms somewhere between a young Frank Lucas and a James Bond villain – and portraying Jones as a loser in terms of age (“you 30!”), money, respect in the streets (claiming Jones was just a “comedian rapper”), and success with women. He did it all at a very high quality but it was mainly standard material whereas Jones chose to spend every round chipping away at the image Mook had constructed for himself in his raps and on film since he started getting popular, injecting a level of personal information that hadn't been seen since Mook battled Jae Millz.

Though Serius went first, his verses seemed to predict, and take the wind out of, Mook's material. Oh you're that nice? Why aren't you in the booth recording then? Why don't you have a record deal? Oh you sell drugs? Then why are you a Catholic school graduate and basketball star? Oh you're street? Then why do you hang out with white boys and act so agitated when you rap about crimes?

Mook was savvy enough to include an “8 Mile”-style admission of his real life and past in his 2nd round to take some sting out of Jones' material. Still, in the eyes of many fans this is a battle of skill vs authenticity, with Mook's near-flawless rapping ability being put against the perceived realness of the person he portrayed in his battle bars and the person Serius himself portrays. To some, Mook's rapping in itself is enough to give him the win, and to others, it's not nearly as crucial as the content of the verses spat or said authenticity. Some are even swayed by Serius' on-the-spot observational freestyling or his ballsy cutting off of Mook's second verse scheme for going over time limits. For that debatable quality, and ability to incite veiny shouting matches between fans, Serius Jones vs Murda Mook is truly deserving of its “classic” status.

I debated on Cortez/Hitman or Verb/Hitman. If people are cool with Tez/Hitman, I have no problem with that. That's personally my favorite battle of any of the new leagues. It just seemed like the consensus was that Verb/holla was the "bigger" more memorable battle, so that's what i went with.

I debated on Cortez/Hitman or Verb/Hitman. If people are cool with Tez/Hitman, I have no problem with that. That's personally my favorite battle of any of the new leagues. It just seemed like the consensus was that Verb/holla was the "bigger" more memorable battle, so that's what i went with.

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aw how many are you allowed to do?

i mean i guess im fine w/ all the battles listed except maybe eyedea/peace, that was one sided as fuck lmao

i mean i guess im fine w/ all the battles listed except maybe eyedea/peace, that was one sided as fuck lmao

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I want to keep it at 14 just for the layout of the book. (I know that's kind of a strange number)...but yea 4 from the 80s, 4 from the 90s, and 6 from the 2000s.

There's other one-sided battles that are listed. Some even MORE one-sided than Eyedea/Peace, but yea that certainly isn't one that I view as like a "definite" that should be in there. It would have to be replaced with another 90s battle though due to the layout.

Juice vs Eminem- It was the battle that Dre watched and changed everything. It may not be a great battle in itself, but it's probably the most influential battle ever as far as battlers gaining noteriety goes.

Pat Stay vs Miracle- This battle put the Elements league on the map.. It made Drect a huge fan and the rest is history.

Lush vs UP- First battle that the written format was presented to on a grander scale. It really is the one that set it off.

Saurus and illmac vs Piff and Hommy- Because yes, and fuck you to anyone that disagrees . Seriously, though, this is the best battle of the WRC and was, to me, what made Saurus and Illmac a truly dangerous team.

Saurus and Illmac vs Whasisface and Posessed rd1- This propelled battlerap and made WRC2 truly relevant to a much larger crowd, creating an expectation for it right when WRC1 finished.

Verb vs Hollow- Starship enterprise, the targets been identified. Probably the most well written verse of all time in Verbs rd1 and Hollow putting up a hell of a performance, this was what put them both on the map before they were actual legends. At the time, the battle wasn't even that meaningful and they weren't even considered "top tier". In hindsight, it made them who they are today.